History of Study Abroad and Exchange Programs The history of study abroad programs can be traced back to a modest start at the end of the nineteenth century where professors would take female groups around on educational European tours as a way for them to travel (ASHE Higher Education Report, 2012). After Word War 1, organized study abroad programs at colleges started to form with two main types of programs; the Junior Year Abroad program (JYA) and short-term faculty-lead programs. The JYA program was focused on curricular, cross-cultural, and developmental outcomes while the faculty-lead programs were often short in duration and took on a touring approach where students were taken to various sites in different countries and taught in
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For this purpose, these educational institutions send their students with pre-determined learning outcomes and create their study abroad programs based on the desired outcome. Driskell et al. (2010), as well as Clarke, Flaherty, Wright and McMillen (2009) outlines four outcome categories that reflect the most prominent and favourable outcomes of effective study abroad programs. These include student awareness of their own culture and communication, and how other cultures differ in these respects; understanding how culture impacts communication; developing critical thinking skills to critically interpret intercultural interactions; and to promote awareness and sensitivity in terms of the complex nature of intercultural interactions (Driskell et al., 2010). Research indicates that internationalization of students and increased competency and awareness in varying cultural contexts is of utmost importance in many post-secondary education institutions globally (Ayoubi & Massoud, 2007; Bohman & Borglin, 2013). Clarke et al. (2009) assert that while the skills needed to meet the desired outcomes could be attempted to be taught in the classroom, unconventional classrooms such as being placed within a different culture yield the best results for cultural competence and should be considered best practice. Research by Greatrex-White (2008) into best practices for teaching cultural awareness and cultural competence to nursing students also corroborates this notion. Study abroad programs offer students the opportunity to understand cultural differences and similarities (Lindsey, 2005) while participating in experiential learning in which participants choose to be immersed in the processes of the new culture in order to make the experience and new areas of
For this purpose, these educational institutions send their students with pre-determined learning outcomes and create their study abroad programs based on the desired outcome. Driskell et al. (2010), as well as Clarke, Flaherty, Wright and McMillen (2009) outlines four outcome categories that reflect the most prominent and favourable outcomes of effective study abroad programs. These include student awareness of their own culture and communication, and how other cultures differ in these respects; understanding how culture impacts communication; developing critical thinking skills to critically interpret intercultural interactions; and to promote awareness and sensitivity in terms of the complex nature of intercultural interactions (Driskell et al., 2010). Research indicates that internationalization of students and increased competency and awareness in varying cultural contexts is of utmost importance in many post-secondary education institutions globally (Ayoubi & Massoud, 2007; Bohman & Borglin, 2013). Clarke et al. (2009) assert that while the skills needed to meet the desired outcomes could be attempted to be taught in the classroom, unconventional classrooms such as being placed within a different culture yield the best results for cultural competence and should be considered best practice. Research by Greatrex-White (2008) into best practices for teaching cultural awareness and cultural competence to nursing students also corroborates this notion. Study abroad programs offer students the opportunity to understand cultural differences and similarities (Lindsey, 2005) while participating in experiential learning in which participants choose to be immersed in the processes of the new culture in order to make the experience and new areas of